


Queen of Arms

by staristired



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Diary/Journal, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Exes, F/M, Healing, Link talks, Mental Health Issues, Post-Calamity Ganon, ex that is not your ex, not all the time though, not really enemies theyre just awkward with each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26640778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staristired/pseuds/staristired
Summary: With Link barely remembering her, and Zelda still living in parts of the past, it's hard for them to know how to interact with each other. As Link starts regaining pieces back, Zelda and him have to figure out how to process everything that they have gone through to be able to regain what they once had. That is, if Link wants to.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm low-key nervous about this fic? I've been editing for days, and I can't seem to get it perfect but I had to remind myself I wrote it for fun so enjoy :) Here is the product of my post-BOTW pain while It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia plays nonstop in the background.

It ached. Deep inside the cavities of her chest danced fire that would never be put out. The castle she once lived in was still full of malice and all the bricks were loose, easily ready to fall in one quake. Almost every single person she grew up loving was gone forever, and even if it had not taken 100 hundred years to return, the initial explosion of The Calamity could’ve never brought them back.

Zelda clipped back her long hair to keep it out of her face as she read behind the Goddess Statue in Karakiko Village. She hid there, reading on the floor to stay away from people for a while. Important Hyrule officials had all flooded the village the weeks before to start the process of reconstruction and find the way to fund everything. The most civilization they had standing was the stable association and the few towns. After barely surviving Ganon, she was still queen at seventeen. She was going to have to fight her whole life.

People were leaving at that moment and would gather back there in a month to finalize everything, but she didn’t want to say goodbye to every single person. She only said bye to Lady Riju who she formed a good friendship within a short amount of time. Riju helped Zelda sneak out of meetings when they had gone on for too long, and they would talk about Urbosa over sweets the children in the village would make them. They would all go around taking pictures near the Great Fairy Fountain on the Shiekah slate Link returned to her.

Link was off doing a secret mission for Impa that she wasn’t told about until he was gone. Right before the Calamity, her and Link were close friends and although he didn’t say much, he would tell her everything. She remembered every sensation of trust and admiration she had towards him along with… other things.

But now, it was hard to have good conversations with him. They were rare and Zelda would think about every word that left his lips like she could lose him again tomorrow. Zelda knew Link before The Calamity, but the Link that she briefly traveled with before settling in Karakiko? He was just a person she once met in a dream.

Link remembered next to nothing, still. He didn’t ask her a lot about before The Calamity and Zelda didn’t push to teach him. If she had the chance to forget the love for the people she couldn’t save, she probably would take it. It’d make living in this new lifetime more bearable.

Link would remember some things here and there. He recently remembered his father and some memories of them together at the outposts before he died. He said he heard his dad’s voice tell him he was proud of him. It was one of the few things he did ask Zelda about the past- how did his father die?

She wondered if he felt like he was getting the news for the first time again when she was telling him. If he remembered all the love his had for his father even if he hadn’t remembered his face or name just hours before. Zelda remembered all the love she had for her dad the minute she was whole again and searched for it at the top of the Temple of Time with Link guarding her every step on the ripped up roof. All that was there was wind and the distant bones of Hyrule Castle.

Unable to focus on the book she was reading, she closed it and started drawing in the dirt. She wrote out her name.

**_ZELDA_ **

She hesitated before she stared writing again.

**_L_ **

“Queen Zelda,” someone called out. She immediately kicked away the writing her foot, awkwardly standing up. She walked to the other side of the Goddess statue and saw Paya standing with her head bowed. “So sorry to interrupt you,” she said quietly. Zelda didn’t know why Paya was intimidated by her, but she had an inkling it had to do with Impa’s abrasive attitude. “I was told I could find you here.”

“You’re fine, Paya,” Zelda replied with a smile she couldn’t see. “Am I needed?”

“My grandmother wanted me to tell, to tell you that everyone has left. You can come back now,” she bowed once again and ran off in a direction that wasn’t the house where they were both staying. Zelda got her book from the ground and made her way back to Impa’s house. She wouldn’t call Paya out for her for nothing but also, she would.

She closed the door behind her, Impa in her usual seat. Her eyes were closed, but she spoke, “I don’t mean to intrude my queen-,”

Zelda cut her off, “Call me Zelda. Please. We’ve been friends for over 100 years now.” Impa had a small smile on her face, most likely throwing her off from what she was going to say.

She licked her lips, seeming to try to recollect herself. “It seems you’ve gained yourself sense of humor while you were off in the Spirit Realm”

“I had time to think of everything I’d tell everyone when I first saw them.” _Link was the only one left to check off._

“As I was saying,” Impa continued, “you have the respect of everyone. You cannot afford to lose it when your kingdom is so fragile. You can’t seem uninterested in the affairs of the people, or the people will lose hope. Nobody will steal the throne from you, but it’ll be harder to govern if you’re not the face everyone sees leading these choices.” Zelda felt like she was getting scolded by her father, the same buzz of shame vibrating through her core. Only difference was that Impa knew. Her father just guessed.

“I wish someone would try to take the throne from me,” Zelda sighed, looking down at the floor.

“You still have fight left in you?”

“No.” Zelda shook her head, looking back at her old friend. “I’d let them keep it.”

“You’re not an heir to nothing, you know that, right?” Impa asked her for the third time since Ganon was taken down. Zelda thought about Riju and all the little kids in Karakiko village who had lived their whole lives watching darkness radiate from Hyrule Castle until her and Link locked it away.

“I’m starting to believe it.”

* * *

Link got to Karakiko a few days after the higher ups left. The last time she spent a lot of time with him was when they went to Zora’s Domain to investigate Vah Ruta. They didn’t find any clues before Zelda had to come back to Karakiko to attend meetings. Even then, most of the talking was done by Zelda and pointing out things she saw when she was fighting Ganon. There wasn’t a lot to talk about with strangers.

She saw him early in the morning after leaving the bedroom she shared with Paya. Her hair was in a messy braid and she rushed to let it loose. “Good morning, Link,” she told him. He bowed from where he stood at the wall, and it made her think of when he was her royal guard. He still wore it often even if there wasn’t a team to match with.

Zelda looked around the room but saw that Impa wasn’t in her usual spot and at that time in the morning, Paya would be off cleaning outside. “Do you know where Impa is?” Link asked her. Her head quickly snapped to look at him.

“I’m not sure,” Zelda looked around as if Impa would be hidden in a small corner of the room. “I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said. He went back to resting on the wall. “I’ll just wait here.” She felt awkward sometimes being in Impa’s house and doing things without explicitly asking, but she was sure she wouldn’t mind.

“Do you want to come into the kitchen and have breakfast with me?” she asked with her hair out of its braid. “There’s seafood fried rice left over from yesterday.” He looked at her for a moment, his mouth slanted as he thought. “There’s no need for modesty. I know you have quite an appetite. You might not remember, but we were really good friends once.” It stung to say that. Link just gave her a small smile and nodded before following her into the kitchen that was hidden behind sliding screen doors.

Zelda started a fire under the pot to warm the food up and gestured for Link to take a seat on one of the floor pillows. He did it without question which surprised her because he seemed to tiptoe around her. She got another pot to brew tea. One thing she liked about present time is that she got to do things for herself. Usually, she would get interrupted by a maid to let them do any little thing for her and she felt strange saying no. But now, the most someone would ask to do something for her was when Paya asked her if she needed help, and if she said no, Paya didn’t push it. She wondered sometimes if Paya knew how much she appreciated her.

Zelda sat diagonal from Link to wait until one of the things boiled. She purposely avoided sitting across from him because she wouldn’t be able to help stare. That’s most of what she did as they made their way to Zora’s Domain. Spiritually, she had been close to him for the year it took for him to get to her. That was never enough. Now, he was right in front of her and she could reach out and touch his face with consequences.

“How were the meetings?” Link asked, tapping his fingers on the lowered table. A spark of excitement flashed through her chest.

“Drawn out and boring. I snuck out a few times with Riju I must admit,” she said with a coy smile. Link looked at her with a raised brow. She wondered if he just remembered the parts of her that were all business which is why this confused him. “Impa was a little upset with me, but I’ll make up for it later. Everything is still,” she stopped talking. She didn’t know how to describe _everything_.

“Too much?” Link tried to finish.

Zelda nodded. “Yes. Too much.” Even then, too much wasn’t enough to describe all the feelings in her body.

“You were excited to start reconstruction,” Link reminded her. She was. The minute she could breathe in the Hyrule air and hold petals in her hand, she knew she was back where she belonged. It was her job and duty to nurture and love her kingdom.

But it got hard. Quick.

Not even a month went by before the reality of everything started to slow her down and now, she could barely lift a finger to do anything. The idea of being queen and bringing Hyrule to glory under her leadership slowly formed itself into a constant reminder that she was queen because her father was dead. There wouldn’t have been a need for reconstruction if she had unlocked her powers sooner. If she had admitted things to herself sooner so many people could’ve lived much longer than what they did.

Zelda looked at Link’s face while his eyes were drawn down to his hands. He had a new scratch on his cheek. It wasn’t deep, and it had scabbed up already in a thin line. Zelda said, “I think I was just a lot more joyful when we first won and now I see the cost of a delayed victory. So many people died.” Zelda sighed as she thought of the census they delivered to her at one of the meetings. “Hyrule has such a low population I could invite everyone to live at the castle once we figure out how to get rid of the malice.” Link smiled like he did a hundred years ago when they’d joke around. It brought so much comfort to her that she didn’t want to take her eyes off of it, even when he caught her looking.

“Maybe start off with Castle Town.”

* * *

Impa returned soaked in water. Link and Zelda were in the main area of the house talking when she walked in. Paya was frantically rushing to get her to her room to change, but Impa scowled at her. “Paya, let me greet Link first.” Impa slowly walked to the middle of the room where Link stood, and he seemed amused with the situation. “Good to see that you’re back. Let me get settled and we’ll have a private talk in the kitchen over tea.” Link who unknowingly to Impa just drank two cups, simply nodded. Impa and Paya headed into one of the rooms, Zelda looking at Link who was now stretching.

Zelda couldn’t help but ask, “Is this about your secret mission.” Link let out quick chuckle.

“I guess you can say that,” he said. His mouth fell open in a quick moment of remembrance as he a muttered a quick _oh_ and started to search through his bag. He pulled out a familiar red book and handed it to Zelda, “This is yours.” Zelda stared between the fragile book spine and Link’s eyes. Zelda then took it and opened it to the first page to confirm what it was.

“How?” she asked in awe. “After all these years?” Link didn’t say anything, but he seemed glad to have brought it back to her. Zelda started to flip through many pages at once, recognizing her handwriting that differed depending on her anxiousness or excitement of the peculiar days. It was more than half empty as she just started it a year or so before the calamity hit.

There was one page she had to stop to look at. In the corner of a page, she had drawn an all-too-familiar sword next to a Silent Princess flower, the letter L written in cursive in different sizes all over it. It was one of the last times she had written. She quickly shut it, her cheeks warm. “Did you read it?” she asked, refusing to look at him. There was a silence and then there was Impa loudly making her way into the main room.

“Off to the kitchen with you, boy,” she said, pushing Link away from her. 


	2. Two Strangers Stood in Sanidin Park

Zelda picked up a pen for the first time in a century. Sitting down with the intention to write in her diary made her nervous, as if she were sitting at her desk in Hyrule Castle, angry at her father and herself. But she had to remind herself where she was in time and space. Link wasn’t outside her door looking out for the Yiga Clan, and she was writing messily on her lap and not her mom’s old desk.

_It’s been quite a while since I had a private space to think for myself. When I was off fighting Ganon, I had to battle with hope and love I didn’t know rested inside of me. I couldn’t think about everyone I had failed. I couldn’t think about how all my friends died. I couldn’t think about how I would never be able to go to that certain little bakery in castle town again. I couldn’t think about the little twin girls from court I was going to take to the library as soon as the Calamity was over. I couldn’t think out about where my father’s remains could’ve gone or if my mother’s grave was still standing. I couldn’t worry about failing again. And now that I can, it feels numbing sometimes._

_I had taught myself to suppress all of those negative emotions for the sake of Hyrule and now that I can get them out without risking everything, I can’t seem to cry. It feels like I’m frozen in place. Time still goes by, people still go by, and I am getting left behind. That hasn’t seemed to change since my return._

_Link on the other hand, was also gone for 100 years but seems to have caught on quickly. Impa reminds me he had a year advantage and that in one year, I would be like him. I would have new friendships, new knowledge of what’s left of Hyrule, and I would find a new purpose. Although, I’m not sure Link knows what to do now that he has saved us. My purpose was decided the day I was born, and as hard as being Queen is going to be, I think I am okay with it._

Paya entered the room, bringing Zelda to close the book. Not because she didn’t trust Paya, she just felt like it was a good place to stop. “How are you?” Zelda asked her.

Paya tried to make eye contact but then looked away said, “I, um, I’m fine.”

“What happened to Impa earlier?” Zelda asked her. Paya had a small smile on her mouth, but she quickly forced it away.

“She fell into the water by the Goddess Statue.” Paya looked down at the floor. A mouse could’ve laughed louder than she did. “She was trying to pick up a feather.” Zelda smiled at the thought of Impa going after a cucco deather, only allowing herself to do so because her old friend was okay.

“Did she blame you for it?” Zelda asked her. Paya shook her head ‘no’ in response. She then picked up a book she had been reading from her dresser before bowing to Zelda and leaving the room. Zelda wondered if she was unlikable to this generation of people or if Paya was just shy. She got along with Lady Riju and the little kids, but little kids liked everybody and her and Lady Riju bonded over Urbosa. She would catch a few sentences with Lasli who was just a little bit older, but that was it.

Link on the other hand, seemed to talk to everybody no matter their age. For the second time in her lifetime, she found herself jealous of him. She didn’t know this knew Link and his philosophy and if he carried a weight on his shoulders. She didn’t know him at all. And part of the reason why she thought she just couldn’t talk to people came with Link.

He talked to everyone but her.

She looked through her old diary entries and wondered if it was something in there that caused him to be like that, but she wasn’t sure. It simply said the truth and Link had faced things much scarier than that.

Zelda walked outside of the room and saw that the kitchen door was still closed, Impa’s voice speaking. She couldn’t make out the words and didn’t want to tempt herself into trying, so she left outside to find what Koko was going to cook for her family that day.

A while went by and Zelda was coloring with Cottla at the sitting area next to Koko’s favorite cooking spot. She drew butterflies for Cottla to color in with colored wax. Zelda looked around the silent village that had gone back to its charming idleness when all the visitors had left. There wasn’t much movement except Link who was walking outside Impa’s house. Without meaning to, she found his eyes in a distance. Their eyes locked and Zelda couldn’t help but think he was only walking over for courtesy. Cottla gasped when she looked up.

“It’s the Hero!” Cottla announced. Koko grinned widely and waved at Link excitedly even though he was already right next to them.

“Hello,” Link told them with a smile, Cottla jumping in his arms. Koko stayed at her pot, but she looked like she was in a much better mood now that Link was there. Link held up Cottla as he looked at Zelda with a small smile.

“Hello again, Hero,” Zelda said. She wasn’t sure if it was Fireblade on his back, but Link’s face seemed to get red with the title.

“Your Majesty,” he replied politely.

Cottla put her hands and Link’s face, getting his attention to say, “She’s a Queen. Did you know that? Isn’t she pretty?” Zelda wanted to hide her face, but there was no way to without making it much more awkward.

Link stayed quiet for a moment before saying, “I did know.”

“Where have you been?” Cottla asked him. “We haven’t played in a while. You used to come all the time to catch fairies.” Zelda knew Link had visits to Karakiko to see Impa but… _all the time_? She waited for a concise answer, but she remembered a little kid was asking the questions.

“I don’t really use fairies anymore,” Link told her. “But we can play after you finish your lunch.” Cottla clapped and jumped out of Link’s arms suddenly, a quick stroke of fear on his face as she almost hit her head on the table. Cottla didn’t notice and ran to Koko to tell her to hurry lunch up.

“Would you really come here all the time?” Zelda found herself asking him. Link sat down at the other end of the bench across from her.

“Every blood moon or so. To get fairies. I didn’t really use them, but I didn’t know what to expect with Ganon.”

 _Showoff_ Zelda thought. They sat there in silence, watching the little girls interact. Koko was getting annoyed with Cottla who was jumping and talking into her ear.

“Did I have siblings?” Link asked Zelda. She had to think for a moment.

The only answer she could give him without lying was, “I don’t think so.” Link didn’t look at her for her response and continued to sit still, watching the girls. “I think you would have been able to remember them by now like you remembered your father.” Zelda got a blank piece of paper and started drawing silent princesses for the girls to color in a random color later on.

There was a sizzling silence between them for a moment. It felt like eternity and all of Zelda’s senses were heightened, feeling like she could hear Link’s heartbeat. Link was the first to speak, “Impa wanted me to tell you that the Yiga Clan is still active.” Zelda’s chest started to burn. “I had been running into them nonstop when I took down their master months ago. They stopped after a Ganon went down. But on this mission, I confirmed they were still out there.”

“What was your mission?” Zelda asked. Impa didn’t want to tell her, and Paya wasn’t allowed to know either.

“To find the Yiga.” She then understood why it was hidden. They had been one of her biggest fears after The Calamity. Impa who had been her best friend knew that. “Some Gerudo soldiers and I were sent to retrieve something that belonged to Impa’s family and try to,” he whispered the next part, “get rid of them while we were there.”

“What happened?” Zelda asked. She was just starting to feel safe. How had a nightmare survived that long? The Goddesses seemed to lose interest in protecting her once more.

Link cleared his throat and Zelda looked at him. He looked like he didn’t know how to admit something. He was tapping his foot in a quick pace, something he had only ever done in front of her a century ago. “A lot got away. They said they weren’t done yet and that they would find you. There were,” he paused for a moment before saying, “drawings of you all over their hideout. Like someone drew you from memory over and over.” That notion creeped Zelda out more than it scared her. These people were obsessed with an evil lord and now that he was gone, they seemed to have shifted to pay attention to her.

“I assume Impa is scared for me,” Zelda said, trying not to sound nervous.

“We all are,” Link said. Zelda was only able to see the side of Link’s face as he looked away from her. “She thinks there’s a spy in the council of people that came last week. I think they would’ve killed you already if they were. They’re horrible at staying disguised. They’re not very smart, but they’re ruthless. You need to stay somewhere safe.”

“I can always just quit my job and move to another country.” Link looked at her with an eyebrow raised, seeming to not know if she was joking or not. She sighed and instead turned her attention to Cottla who was running back up to them with a plate of food in hand. It felt so lonely talking to him.

Zelda excused herself from the table, promising the girls she’d see them later. Link stayed behind with them, and she could feel his eyes on her as she made her way back to Impa’s house. She wished she knew how she felt for this stranger.

* * *

Link stayed in Karakiko overnight much to Zelda’s surprise. He was there to eat breakfast with them in the morning, but none of them said much of anything. It drained Zelda to just be in the room with Link sometimes and that morning was one of them unlike the previous one. She wished he could get his memories back and treat her like he used to when they were friends. 

But she knew that was selfish. She knew she was still holding on to parts of the past, and she couldn’t expect Link to do the same when he never had to. It hurt to grab on to it, like squeezing a piece of flint with the palm of your bare hand. She feared she wouldn’t know who she was if she let go.

Paya had gone to clean outside after breakfast and Impa sat in the main room. Zelda stayed behind with Link to clean up. She quietly washed the dishes in a rack, handing them to Link to dry and put away in a high shelf she only reached with her tippytoes. He had always been taller than her, and she went from hating it, to liking it, to disliking it once more.

“Are you leaving soon?” Zelda asked him after they had been silent the whole time.

“After this,” he answered. “I’m going to clear some monsters out.”

Zelda wasn’t there to debate the technicality of accidentally making some monsters go extinct in the meeting, so that notion got approved without her. Link told her that wouldn’t happen since there were too many monsters nowhere near trade routes. It was one of the very few comforting things Link had said to her in this time. “I thought stables were paying people to help get rid of them.”

“Lynels.” Zelda hadn’t seen a Lynel in person since they had been attacked by a swarm of monsters in Eldin Canyon. She remembered holding Link’s face for a moment, examining a cut he had gotten on his face. For a brief second, they started at each other in the eye and although Link probably thought nothing of it at the time, Zelda felt like she was breaking every rule in the book by wanting to hold him closer. She wondered where those feelings were.

“I wish you the best of luck.”. Link looked at her, examining her face carefully. He had a frown on his face.

“Do you want me gone?” he asked her. She caught her mouth almost falling open. Where in Hylia’s name did he get that?

She shook her head. “I never said that.”

“It just… feels that way sometimes.”

“I think,” she said quietly, looking down at the dish she was holding, “I think I just don’t know how to act around you. Our… friendship was a lot deeper once before. You don’t remember any of it and almost none of me.” She looked at him, feeling her eyes mist for the first time since she got to Karakiko. Why was he always the key?

“I’m sorry, Princess.”

“Don’t apologize,” Zelda told him. “I’m the one still living in the past.”

“At least you can remember,” Link told her. Zelda looked up at him for a moment, handing him the final plate. He was as easy to decipher as a cloud. He took it from her with a smile, letting her know he was okay. 

“You know I’m here to answer any questions,” she said, drying her hands on her pants. The towel was right next to Link, and she had no desire to reach around him. “I always say that, but you don’t seem to care much for it. Your new life is established, though. There’s no reason for you to dwell on the past.”

“I think it’ll all come back eventually,” Link said. “And if it doesn’t, there’s no reason why we can’t be friends.” Zelda’s heart soared in her chest, and it was as if it was putting out parts of the fire that scarred her insides. For once, there was a little bit of hope that things between them could go back how they used to be.

* * *

It had been a month without seeing Link or hearing from him. Zelda was expecting visitors soon and Impa, who still had suspicions about an infiltrating Yiga Clan member, forbid her from going anywhere alone without a Shiekah guard.

_Everything is going to be finalized within the next few days. The rebuilding of Castle Town. A new official kingdom bank. My coronation ceremony date. I don’t know how I’m going to get through it all without losing faith in myself._

_I haven’t left Karakiko in such a long time, and I’m starting to feel at home. Paya talks to me now, and I can gladly say we’re friends. I now know her mother, Impa’s daughter, was going to visit Purah in Hateno before getting attacked by monsters and dying. Paya was three when it happened, younger than what I was when my mother died. Paya said she has no real memories of her, and with that, I started thinking about my favorite memory with my mother._

_I don’t have one. Or any for that matter. Everything I’ve ever known about her has been lost through time. I think I now know how Link feels about having entire parts of his life missing. My mother’s face is a badly restored painting, her voice sounds just like mine even though it shouldn’t, and I can’t even remember what day she died on. I don’t have my father or Urbosa to ask. I’d have to visit her grave to know. That is, if it’s still standing._

_My strongest memories are all from a few years before The Calamity. Meeting Link and hating him. Research. Realizing me and Link have more in common than what we both thought. Learning to trust him. Crying alone in my room after failed visits to the Goddess Springs. My dad’s birthday feast where we got along for an entire day. Getting saved from the Yiga Clan by Link about three times. Maybe more._

_Working with the Champions. Making stops at random places with Link. Climbing up roofs in Castle Town to make Link nervous. Small touches here and there. Helping me get off my horse and on my horse even after I completely tamed it. Link holding the back of my shirt at the edge of a building. Touching my shoulder as he walked behind me for no reason. Me holding his hand in the darkness of my room as he stood guard next to me, his pulse knocking on my skin. Link running his fingers through my hair for the first time and then apologizing seventy times. Me kissing his cheek in my study after he brought me a Silent Princess. Acting like everything was normal between us in front of everyone else. Becoming friends with Revali whose dislike of Link reminded me of my previous one. Telling Urbosa I had feelings for my knight. Kissing Link for the first time at Sanidin Park the day before The Calamity. The Champions all falling. Link dying._

_He doesn’t remember most of this, and it consumes me like an inferno every time that I am in front of him. Or maybe he does remember, and he choses not to be close to me for this very reason._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it is revealed /.\ They had illegal smooching beforehand. What do you guys think about her diary entries? I've been attached to writing diary entry fanfics since elementary school and I'm a college 3rd year lmao. It's just nice to get in her head without the world interrupting. I'm going to try to update once a week at least but I just started school and I need to start planning for NaNoWriMo, so it'll be late sometimes. This is one of those stories where only 2k-3k word chapters work.


	3. Guts and Cuts

The Bolson Construction Company was hired by the newly established Hyrule Treasury to rebuild Castle Town and after that was completed, any other fallen towns in Hyrule. The Hyrule Treasury was made possible because of loans from the Stable Associations that would be paid back once they figure out where all the old money ended up or with future taxes. Zelda wasn’t holding onto hope that it was there considering the stories she heard of people looting the castle.

The castle was untouchable because of all of the malice so the Bolson company wouldn’t be able to get to it. Zelda would have to stay in Karakiko until they figured out something for her, but she didn’t mind. She knew it would be safer than living in a castle all by herself. The thought of loneliness scared her.

Her priority was to take care of the displaced people and establish new trading routes between all the regions. She made sure that the people at the meeting knew that, and it made Impa give her a nod of approval. Her thin lipped smile made Zelda get overwhelmed with the amount of happiness she felt, like she was finally doing something right.

And when everything was finalized, all they had to do was wait and trust that Hyrule could become its former glory once again.

During the final meeting, Zelda couldn’t help but wonder if one of them was fantasizing about twisting her arm and putting a knife to her throat. Cado stood right next to her like Link did long ago under Impa’s orders but nobody stood out or seemed like a threat. There were representatives from each race, every Hyrulean stable owner that had been checked by Impa, and some businessmen that had influence in the form of money. She was starting to think that Link was right. 

She had met Kass who said he was really close friends with Link. Prince Sidon would interrupt every once in a while to remind them he was Link’s _best_ friend before letting them carry on with their conversations. Kass told her that if Link was off on a hunting spree, he would probably be awhile. “He tends to get distracted with things on the side. He took time to solve a lot of ancient riddles I gave him. I imagine it’s taking longer to get around without his Shiekah Slate, also.” Zelda felt guilty when he said that. She was just using it for pictures when Link could have better use of it.

But that guilt was quickly replaced with something else she couldn’t describe. Kass said he wanted to play a song to the Queen during lunch. Everyone was out in the Karakiko eating area, watching Kass get ready to sing with his accordion. Zelda was excited to hear it especially when she learned who had wrote the song. Then he started and as verses went by, she listened to the song and heard the clear lyrics.

It was a horror-like feeling. Not the same horror she felt when Calamity Ganon first rose, but it made her chest swell up with embarrassment. She would soon pop, and her guts would get over everyone in the area and she was going to have to apologize.

**Her appointed knight gives his life,**

**Shields her figure, and pays the price.**

**The princess's love for her fallen knight awakens her power**

**And within the castle the Calamity is forced to cower.**

Was it so obvious 100 years ago? She couldn’t understand the rest of the song as she stared at the musician, nobody else seeming to take the lyrics too seriously. She looked around and made eye contact with Impa who gave her a teasing smile, making Zelda flare up even more. She didn’t realize the song was over until everyone clapped and brought her back. She stood up and politely bowed to Kass, thanking him for the music even though she preferred her life minutes ago when she had no clue of the song’s existence.

“Any time you want to hear it, let me know,” Kass bowed back. She would like to never to hear it again, she thought. “Link requests it quite often.” And then she was stumped.

She sat back down, unable to continue eating. She wanted to know how Link felt listening to that song for the first time… or the next few times apparently. She sweated inside her velvet dress, wanting to just sink into the nearby lake and never resurface. She hoped the word love wasn’t the reason why Link was so dissolved from her.

* * *

Two months went by faster than what Zelda thought they would. She woke up every morning, trying not to wake up Paya with her crying. She learned to bite her thumb to prevent any sound from escaping, and she splashed her face with ice cold water to blame it for the redness in her face. She started losing eyelashes from how rough she had been to her skin. Then, for the rest of the day she would wait to get messages from Bolson Construction or any other people in the kingdom.

But even when the first snow had hit Karakiko, there was still no sign of Link. It gave her anxiety wondering if something bad had happened to him or if he just hated her. She would run hundred of scenarios in her head from those two thoughts, biting at her nails until Paya or Impa told put garlic oil on her fingers.

“He’s fine,” Impa assured her. “He’s more resilient than what you think.” Zelda knew Link was strong. She didn’t need to be reminded that he was courageous and could fight his way out of any situation. She just needed to hear from him. To assure herself that he wasn’t dead from starvation or frozen in the mountains somewhere. They said no news was good news, but it always felt backwards to her.

Ever since she heard that song, she couldn’t stop thinking about it and somehow thought of Link even more. Sometimes it made her sad because there was the chance that Link was weirded out by the lyrics and didn’t want her to feel that love for him again. Sometimes, it made her stomp around the village in anger because the song made everything seem one sided like Link didn’t kiss her back. But of course, that was a memory only for her and a memory that was lost for him. If the world was able to see how smitten she was for Link, then she must have had been even more entrapped with his eyes than what she wanted to remember. 

Zelda was standing at the apple tree at the cliff overlooking Karakiko, the shrine behind her and a cucco at her foot. The tree was out for the season, and the village was covered in a blanket of snow. She wished she could put it all in an orb and keep it safe forever. She looked around, rubbing her hands together. The stillness of Karakiko invigorated her as much as it made her feel trapped. She searched for any little movement that could give her something to think about besides her dead friends and family. Any little leaf that fell off a tree saved her more heartache than any diary entry could.

“Hello, Queen Zelda.” She jumped and pulled out a dagger from her belt, holding it out. Cado had taught her a few basic things when he realized she wouldn’t stop wondering off. She felt a sting on her tongue from biting down on it. “Woah,” Link held his hands up in defense, a small smile on his face as she brought the dagger down. Zelda didn’t know how to react, so she awkwardly put away her weapon, not knowing what to say. She felt relieved, but she was also bitter and angry at the same time, cemented blocks of emotions making attempts to come out her mouth. She didn’t expect to manifest him in front of her this quickly. She hadn’t sorted herself out to act like he didn’t exist to her.

“I’m glad to see that you are alive and well.” It was true. “It would’ve been nice to get a letter from a stable or town that could signify that you were alive and not dead in a trench.”

“Do you think I’m weak?” Link asked, raising an eyebrow. Zelda studied him, but she couldn’t tell if he was hurt or not as he leaned more on his left leg. He seemed older and somehow, even more different than what she had once remembered him. There was a stitched up gash on his cheek, still red and glowing in the coldness.

“I’m constantly reminded of your strength by the whole world, but you do have to remember that you’re as human as I am. If I could die somewhere, you could, too.” They stared at each other for a moment, Link blinking away snow stuck in his long eyelashes. It fully hit her that he was once again in front of her, well and alive. “What happened to your cheek if I may ask.” She stepped forward with her hands behind her back, leaning in only a little to look closely at it as if a glass bubble would break if she got nearer to him. There was purple skin surrounding the cut, and there were still parts where the wound seemed to be releasing fluids. “Who did your stitching? It is not the best.”

“I did.”

“Oh.” Her mouth fell open a little, but she felt relieved when he smiled. He wasn’t the same, definitely. But that smile belonged to her friend Link. Maybe if she shoved the song to the back of her mind, she could get herself back to their conversation before he left.

“Yeah. It’s pretty bad, but it’s all I could do without a mirror.”

“You should have someone here look over it,” Zelda suggested. “You could lose half of your face to infection.” He wouldn’t, but once upon a time, she liked scaring him into taking better care of his wounds. It seemed to be effective then and now because he agreed with her almost immediately.

The started walking back down the hill, Zelda in front of him to lead them to Impa’s house. She turned around and caught him wincing in pain as he stepped on his right foot. He caught her eye and straightened himself out, almost embarrassed. Zelda watched him for a few moments as he slowly caught up and when he did, she extended her arm out to him. He looked ashamed, but he still put his arm over her shoulder as she helped him walk to Impa’s.

“You once told me I wasn’t immortal,” Link said when they were passing Cado’s house. He looked over from his post and ran over to help them. Zelda knew about what time he was talking about. When she felt braved enough in the moment to touch his face for the first time.

“I did,” Zelda said. “You died trying to prove me wrong.”

“What happened to you, Master Link?” Cado asked as he held Link up on his other side.

“I almost died again.”

* * *

Link was resting in a cot they had laid out for him in Impa’s main room. His right leg had been fractured from a bad fall, and an older doctor in the village wrapped his leg for him before redoing his stitching. He had a straight face the entire time, but Zelda knew he wanted to hiss. She watched intently the entire time as the doctor worked her magic.

“I’m going to make you a potion that will speed up your healing process, but you’re going to have to lay down for a week or you might end up with a limp for the rest of your life,” the doctor said as she wrote things down in a notepad. “Think of it as a well-deserved break.”

“I wouldn’t say well-deserved,” Link said, tapping his fresh stiches with the ends of his fingers.

“How many Lynels did you get?” Zelda asked. Link looked between her and the doctor cautiously.

“Twelve.” Paya gasped from her corner of the room and looked embarrassed when everyone turned to her for a quick second.

“You’ve earned a break, Master Link,” the doctor told him and patted his hair. “I’ll brew the potion and come back right now.” Once she had closed the doors behind her, Link let out a sigh and laid flat down. Impa was silent in her chair with her eyes closed. Zelda couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not. She turned her attention back to Link whose eyes were wide open in comparison, bright blue staring at the tall wooden ceilings of the home. He moved some hair out of his face, revealing smaller scratches on his forehead. Seeing Link like this stressed Zelda out and even though he was far from death, being reminded of his immortality seemed to make her heart suffer even more. One day she would lose Link, but she hoped it happened long after she was gone.

The doctor came back and Zelda realized nobody had spoken a word since she left. Link sat up and drank the yellow potion she gave him in three swallows. “I’m serious about the no moving for a week. You can get up to stretch sometimes but don’t even think about going down those stairs,” she said once more, taking the empty jar from him.

“I can’t go home?” Link asked her.

“Where’s home?”

“Hateno.”

“Nonsense,” Impa said before the doctor could answer. “He’s staying here.” Link didn’t look too happy with the idea, but he didn’t fight it. Zelda was so worried about where Link could be for two months and now he’d be just feet away from her. She didn’t know if she liked it or not.

* * *

Zelda wasn’t one to get up in the middle of the night. The most she did was wake up from a nightmare and go to the restroom, but she didn’t make a journey out of it. But knowing Link was out in the main room was such a heavy thought on her mind. She wanted to see him. She needed to see he was breathing before she could go to sleep again.

She sighed before sitting up quietly in her bed, slipping on her sandals and sneaking out of the room as Paya snored happily under her five blankets. Link’s cot was right outside their room, and she could hear his breathing. She couldn’t see him at all in the dark, but his dark figure was there. She walked closer and closer, jumping up and letting out a yelp when he sat up. She quickly put her hand over her mouth, meeting his eyes in the dark as they waited to see if Paya or Impa heard her. When there was no movement, she put her hand down and realized how fast her heart was going. She felt mortified that he had caught her.

“Is something wrong, Queen Zelda?” he asked. His voice was raspy, like he had been in a deep sleep. He had been trained to be a light sleeper.

“Please don’t call me that,” she told him. “It sounds strange coming from you.”

“How do I address you, then?” he asked. She couldn’t see anything but his bright blue eyes, and it peeved her.

“Don’t address me,” she said as if it were so simple.

“You’re the one that came to watch me sleep.” There was a playfulness in his voice as if he hadn’t been maimed by a Lynel a few days before.

“What?” Zelda whispered loudly, feeling accused of a crime. “I just wanted to get a glass of water.”

“Where’s your water?”

“I was on my way.” Zelda pouted, making it half-way there before turning around and asking, “Would you like water?” Link let out a very silent chuckle.

“Yes, please.” Zelda turned on a candle in the kitchen and drank a sip of water she didn’t want before filling a glass for Link. She took the glass in one hand and the candle stick in the other as she made her way back to Link who was waiting for her. “Thank you,” he said as he received the glass from her.

“You’re welcome.” She looked at the floor, tapping her foot silently on the floor as she heard Link gulp the water. “When was the last time you drank water?” she asked him. “Tea doesn’t count.” Another silent laugh. She knew she wasn’t that funny, so she wondered if something had shifted in his mind.

“Maybe a week or two ago?” he said. Zelda frowned, looking at him with a disapproving look. He smiled nervously because of her scowls a century ago, and he was doing it again. She saw the glass was now empty and reached out to get it.

“Would you like more?” she asked him. He shook his head _no_ , but Zelda still walked into the kitchen to refill it. She brought it back and set it on the floor next to the cot. He’d be able to reach it if he wanted more later.

“Thank you,” he said again, looking right at her. Zelda looked at him with a straight face, trying to understand what was going on with him. He didn’t feel as distant as he once did, but she couldn’t reach out and touch him yet.

“What else have you remembered?” she asked him. She expected him to say that he remembered riding horses with her or having dinners with the other champions. She thought that maybe he remembered the first time he put on his blue tunic. But not what he said.

“Did we really kiss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I might be doing time skipping to rush to the fluff even though they're both fucked up /.\ This is my fanfic. I get to write it as badly as I want.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story with no specific plot in mind, and as I start to form the direction, I’m just going to straight up say the only villain is going to be mental health basically because if I were Zelda, 17, barely remembered how to read, I would be losing my mind and then Link? Cue the audio of “you good? No you not. you’re not baby and it’s okay.” I honestly just want a Zelink fic that is fluff and comfort post game, but I also want the angst part of it because that’s one of my favorite things to write. Thank you, My Chemical Romance and The Front Bottoms. 
> 
> I’ve been dying to type out these feelings I have over the ending of the game and it just got confirmed it’ll be a while before we get BOTW 2 news so I’m going to set this post game and then before what I think will be BOTW 2 but not really because I don’t do theories. I hate fighting but I will be playing HW to quench my love for all of these characters so hopefully nothing that comes from there will slaughter my plot because I will stop this fic if it does. It happened once before. (Fuck Shake it Up! Season 3. All my homies hate Shake it Up! Season 3.)
> 
> TLDR: Main plot obstacle/villain is mental health I think. This is after BOTW and before what I think BOTW2 will be like but not really. If HW screws with my plot really badly, I'll probably stop this fic? Fuck Shake it Up! season 3.


End file.
